The solicitor general : the politics of law

In this book, Rebecca Mae Salokar studies the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States from 1959 through 1986. A frequently overlooked institution of American politics, this office is responsible for all litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the executive branch. But the solicitor general is also a well-respected advisor to the justices and a gatekeeper, controlling a large portion of the litigation that reaches the Court's docket. The author shows that today, with the increased politicization of the Justice Department, the work of the nation's lawyer is an integral component of executive policy-making. Paying particular attention to the selection of solicitors general and the political and legal environment in which they functioned, Salokar analyzes all Supreme Court cases in which the government was a participant from 1959 to 1986. She examines the work of the solicitor general in the roles of litigant or party to a case and amicus curiae or friend of the court. Her interviews with several former solicitors general and members of their staffs provide contextual examples to support the statistical analyses. Salokar's findings suggest that the solicitor general enjoys a large degree of functional independence from the Department of Justice and the executive branch but that the office does, in fact, act politically by pursuing the agenda of the executive branch in its case selection and argument formulation before the Supreme Court. This study demonstrates that the Office of the Solicitor General can and does shape policy questions for the United States. As the most frequent and successful litigant before the Supreme Court, the solicitor general plays a critical role in shaping the court's agenda. As a political actor, the solicitor general pursues the implementation of the president's policy agenda through litigation activity. While the relationship between the judicial and executive branches has been defined traditionally through the nomination of justices to the Court and through Court decisions that affect presidential power, Salokar reveals that another, more frequently used, link between the two branches exists in the Office of the Solicitor General.Lire la suite...

Introduction ; The government lawyer --
An overview of the office of the solicitor general of the United States --
The cream of the crop : the fifth floor of justice --
Untangling the bramblebush : external demands and influences --
Vested interests : the government as a party before the Supreme Court --
Friend of the court : the government as amicus --
The dilemma of serving two masters : strategies for individual rights cases --
Conclusion ; The balancing act : the solicitor general and American politics.

Responsabilité :

Rebecca Mae Salokar.

Résumé :

The Office of the Solicitor General is responsible for all litigation before the US Supreme Court on behalf of the executive branch. This book studies this office and shows that, with the increased politicization of the Justice Department, the work of the nation's lawyer is an integral component of executive policy-making.Lire la suite...

Critiques

Critiques éditoriales

Synopsis de l’éditeur

"[T]he most comprehensive work thus far available on the executive branch's representative in Supreme Court litigation...What makes Salokar's book so important and...makes it stand alone in the literature on the solicitor general's role in the litigation process is that she demonstrates through careful, empirical analysis how the office has been used to advance the political and policy objectives of presidential administrations over time." --American Political Science Review "Salokar's book is quite simply the best scholarly study to date of the solicitor general." --Choice "I know of no comparable scholarly study of the Solicitor General... The unique set of quantitative data on the U.S. government cases that Salokar collected and analyzed...illuminates some of the important patterns in the decisions and success of the Solicitor General." --Lawrence Baum, Ohio State UniversityLire la suite...